A soldier who was shot seven times by Fort Hood gunman Major Nidal Hasan defiantly stared down his attacker as he gave evidence at a court martial.

Retired Staff Sergeant Alonzo Lunsford, 46, who is 6ft 9 ins tall, was left blind in his left eye after being shot in the face and still has a bullet in his back, but was able to walk to the witness box.

During his testimony he locked his gaze repeatedly on the paralysed Hasan who stared back impassively from his wheelchair.

Mr Lunsford told the court he was working as a health care specialist administering medical tests when Hasan opened fire in his building at the Fort Hood military base in Texas in November 2009, causing a "state of panic."

He described how one heroic doctor rushed out of a cubicle and charged Hasan with a chair, only to be gunned down.

Mr Lunsford said: "Hasan was shooting soldiers and at this point all the chairs are everywhere. Some soldiers are on the ground, some are trying to hide behind chairs.

"I'm lying in the prone position. People at the back were trying to get out and there was a bottle neck. There were two double doors and only one was opening."

He decided to get up and make a move to the back door only a few steps away but Hasan turned on him.

He said: "Major Hasan had a laser on his gun and it came across my line of sight. I blinked because I didn't want to look directly into it.

"Then he discharged the weapon and the first round hit me in the head. I got knocked back, two steps back, and hit the floor. I'm lying face down trying to get to a desk and then I'm hit again in my back.

"At this point I decided to play dead. When I was lying there I did a self-assessment on myself. I realised dead men don't sweat.

"My right eye could see the back door and blood is pooling under my head.

Then I made my sprint for the back door.

"My plan was to exit the building and go to the left because the grass is real high, and to run in a zigzag to get to the parking lot, to get my jeep."

But coming out the door there was a drop and he started to fall.

He said: "As I'm tumbling out of that door I'm hit again.

"Then I'm lying in the grass. Major Hasan comes outside and he is shooting.

Major Hasan drops a mag and reloads and continued to shoot while I'm being triaged."